Three Arrested In German Vendor Shop Bust

The Cybercrime Regional Center accused three suspects who are believed to be connected to a German vendor shop selling narcotics on a German language “Dark Net Market Forum.” A 31-year-old and a 54-year-old are charged with the distribution of drugs on the dark web while a 25-year-old is accused of buying illegal substances from the vendor shop for resale.

According to the General Public Prosecutor’s Office in Koblenz, the 31-year-old and the 54-year-old vendor duo distributed narcotics from October 2015 to August 2016. They only accepted BTC as payment and advertised that they ship out their product by the national postal service within one day. Law enforcement authorities said the two vendors sold a total of 5,300 grams of amphetamine, 550 grams of heroin, 660 grams of cocaine, 400 grams of MDMA, 1,800 grams of hash, and 1,100 ecstasy pills in 570 orders.

In August, police raided six locations in the Regensburg area and seized drugs with a market value of 130,000 euros. In addition to that, authorities confiscated bitcoins worth 330,000 euros from the 31-year-old accused. All three suspects remained silent at their court hearings. The charges were made by the Mainz District Court since narcotics were also sent to the Rhineland-Palatinate state capital.

Germany’s hard enforcement of the dark net continues. Recently, a 28-year-old man from Aibling was sentenced to 22 months of probation for ordering narcotics from dark net markets. The electrician ordered drugs in 16 cases in 2013. He thought he was in full anonymity but he was mistaken. He was among those people who the Federal Bureau of Investigation had cracked their IP addresses. The FBI traced back the 28-year-old’s IP address, found his location and warned German border forces and law enforcement authorities.

Since the electrician ordered a package with a bulk amount of narcotics, he was also charged with drug trafficking. Jürgen Liebhart, defending the accused, admitted all of his client’s crimes, but one; he claimed the 28-year-old never sold drugs. Police, on the other hand, states that they have evidence showing that the electrician did sell narcotics, however, it did not stand on its own at trial.

Prosecutors said that they do not believe Liebhart’s statement that the accused did not sell any drugs. However, since the electrician did not have any criminal record, Judge Christian Merkel sentenced him to 22 months on probation. Before the sentencing, Liebhart stated once again that his client is innocent on the charge of drug trafficking and asked the judge for a suspended punishment (which he received). According to court documents, the electrician is now living a life without using drugs.

Another case in Germany includes a 25-year-old from Idar-Oberstein who was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for buying two pistols, a grenade, ammunition and a “shooting pen” from the dark web. Court information says the suspect and his defendant had withdrawn their appeal before the regional court in Bad Kreuznach. Court documents say the defendant violated the law on weapons and the war arms control law. He confessed to all of his crimes.